Address matching is a component of a common process used to determining to what node information, such as a packet of information, should be passed in a network of nodes. As information is routed through nodes of the network in transit from a source node to a destination node, each node through which the information passes may search a database of destination networks or nodes to which the current node is coupled to find the node having an address most nearly matching the most significant portion of the address of the destination node. The information may then be passed to the next hop node associated with that most nearly matching address.